Category: lisanne de jong

So pre-fall is a weird season. I mean it is a working season, this is true so many brands make alot of money off of it, but it’s very peculiar. Why, because the name doesn’t really tell you what it’s for. Spring collections are for Spring, Fall collections are for fall. Resort/Cruise collections are for more tropical locales… like resorts and cruises. Maybe I’m wrong but in the 4 seasons I learned in school there was no pre-fall. Because of this, designers treat the season in different ways, and while some show bikinis, others show heavier pieces… like furs.

Carolina Herrera to me always makes beautiful pieces. That’s really the only way I can describe them, as beautiful. The hats from Spring 2011 sent me into convulsions, in only the best of ways of course. While this collection didn’t quite do the same, it has grown on me a since first seeing it, the more voluminous pieces working down my resistance quicker than the rest.

The Oscar de la Renta collection on the other hand, which I was able to catch the livestream of, really was something that I instantly liked. From the first look, which featured the top backwards on the model, all the way through to what I can only describe as the Indian Princess ball gowns, including every bow, and evening jumpsuit in between, I was practically in lust. It may be a bit weird, but I found myself almost frothing at the simplistic luxury found in the look featured above.

Donna Karan showed two collections during her Pre-Fall collection: the first being a new collection entitled “The Casual” and the second being her main Donna Karan collection. Based on her 7 basic pieces, Donna Karan managed to bring something a bit new to her customer, something that I can only explain as… casual. The layering, the furs, the color palette, everything pointed towards this motif and I’d be a liar if I said that I wasn’t a fan.

I have saved what may have been the best collection in my opinion till last(although not purposefully). The J Mendel collection spoke red carpet moments to me. Continuing with the silhouette mapped out in the Spring collection, Gilles Mendel presents us with a Romanesque architectural collection with an emphasis on draping(I hope that came out right). The furs… the furs… what can I say about the furs? There is nothing to say to adequately describe the beauty embedded within them, and at the same time there’s so much to say about how the inherent masculinity of them contradicts with the femininity in the gowns. Again I can only say… red carpet moments.